All-Terrain Vehicles (“ATV's”) are conventionally are four-wheeled off-road vehicles. Given that wheels are do not provide optimal traction on certain terrain types, e.g. mud, snow, sand, etc., track systems were developed to be used on ATV's in place of the wheels. The ATV's, however, including their frames, suspensions, and fairings, were designed for having wheels as ground-contacting elements, and not for having tracks. Wheels are circular in shape (and thus when rotated maintain the same shape—and are designed to be rotated in use), and are generally smaller than track systems.
Tracks systems are typically triangular in shape (and are not designed to be rotated when in use) and are generally larger than wheels. Thus, on some ATV's, the substitution of a track system for a wheel, requires a structural element to restrict the movement of the track system, to prevent rotation and to limit the movement of the track system in view of the suspension travel of the vehicle (which was designed for a wheel) to prevent the track system or the track of the track system from coming into contact with parts of the vehicle.
Since their creation, track systems have also been adapted for use with vehicles other than ATVs, such as Utility Task Vehicles (also referred to as “UTV”, or “Side-by-Side” vehicles), and trucks. In such uses, similar considerations apply and similar limiting assemblies may be used.
Devices used to limit rotation of the track systems are sometimes referred to in the art as “anti-rotation” or “limiting” assemblies.
An example of such a track system and limiting assembly can be found in commonly owned U.S. Pat. No. 8,312,945. The '945 patent teaches a limiting assembly that prevents excessive rotation of a track system about the axle onto which the track system is mounted, thereby preventing the track system from contacting and ultimately damaging other components of the vehicle.
The limiting assembly of the '945 patent generally forms a trapezoid or a parallelogram with the suspension of the vehicle. Due to the generally trapezoidal configuration of the limiting assembly, the stabilizing rod of the limiting assembly will maintain the terrain-contacting patch (“contact patch”) of the track substantially parallel to the ground at all times, and that, substantially independently of the position of the suspension. The limiting assembly also allows for limited rotation of the track system about the axle, thereby allowing the track system to better follow the ground and thereby provide a smoother ride for the operator of the vehicle.
While existing track systems (such as those described in the '945 patent) are suitable for their intended purpose, improvements to such systems may be desirable.